in forō

māne mercātōrēs ad forum eunt. tabernās aperiunt et negōtium agunt. multae fēminae ancillaeque ad forum ambulant. multī Rōmānī virī quoque in forō negōtium agunt. aliī pecūniam petunt, aliī mercēs emunt. rhētōrēs quoque in forō stant et sermōnēs dīcunt.

ūnus mercātor fābulam dē ānulō nārrat. mercātor inquit, "servus Pūnicus ānulum in harēnā invēnit. ānulus erat antīquus et pretiōsus. servus ānulum ad vīllam dominī portāvit et dominō dedit. dominus intentē ānulum īnspēxit et clāmāvit, 'est ānulus Hannibālis!' ille mihi ānulum vēndidit et nunc tibi eum vēndō. dā mihi modo vīgintī et quinque dēnāriōs!"

ānulus autem nōn est ānulus Hannibālis. est falsus.

-it, -ērunt

Operatives, you may have noticed another set of unfamiliar verbs in your TSTT-immersions.  There is another past tense in addition to the imperfect tense called the perfect tense.  The perfect tense is best translated as an “-ed verb” in English.  Thus, “they walk” in the present becomes “they walked” in the perfect (as opposed to “they were walking” in the imperfect).

The perfect tense, while it doesn’t have the instantly recognizable “-ba-” of the imperfect, still has straightforward way to tell if a verb you encounter is in the perfect--the "perfect stem" of the verb (the part you stick the ending on) is almost always very distinctive. From this point forward in GRAMMATICA explanations, you'll see the perfect stem indicated in an orange color.

For example, the perfect stem of amō (present-stem am- ) is amāv- so while amat means "he/she/it loves" amāvit means "he/she/it loved."

Likewise, amant ("they love") becomes amāvērunt ("they loved") in the perfect.

You will notice, however, that both third person endings in the perfect tense have the familiar -t and -nt.

Operatives, you should also be aware of the changes to sum in the imperfect and perfect tenses.

3rd person singular

• est - he is - (present)
• erat - he was - (imperfect)
• fuit - he was - (perfect)

3rd person plural

• sunt - they are - (present)
• erant - they were - (imperfect)
• fuērunt - they were - (perfect)

Given the irregular nature of sum, operatives would be well-advised simply to practice these forms as much as possible, to achieve the best possible attunement.

Operative, you are advised to familiarize yourself with the role of the forum in Roman life. This cultural knowledge will make it possible to obtain more LPs. Operatives should also view this very short video briefing courtesy of the American Institute for Roman Culture:

The Demiurge also urges all operatives to acquaint themselves, for the purpose of attaining higher attunement levels, with the basics of Roman commerce.

Lastly, this video briefing couresty of latintutorial.com should help you become more attuned to Roman numerals.

Directions: Match the words in the word bank with the clues.  

1. This person would make an armilla.
2. dēnāriī are a specific type of this.
3. Awesome!
4. If you were going to stab someone, you would use one of these.
5. After a long day outdoors, your clothing will probably be this.
6. All Roman men had one of these, which they used to sign documents.
7. A soldier would carry one.
8. A vir would not wear this.
9. You might encounter him in the forum.
10. He would be out in the fields every day.
11. decem  x  duo = _____
12. You put these on this morning.

3.3.b 
Directions: The following short sentences are in the singular. Change the subject and the verb into the correct plural forms and then translate the sentences into English.

1. servus scrībēbat.
2. amīcus labōrāvit.
3. puer currēbat.
4. puella dormīvit.
5. malus rīdēbat.
 

3.3.c 
Directions: The following short sentences are in the plural. Change the subject and the verb into the correct singular forms and then translate the sentences into English.

1. senātōrēs Rōmam regēbant.
2. coquī cēnam coquēbant.
3. canēs cucurrērunt.
4. malī intrāvērunt.
5. mercātōrēs vestēs tenēbant.
 

3.3.d 
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the blank spaces in the paragraph with an appropriate LATIN word. Be sure to use the correct form of the Latin word for the context.

Yesterday I went ad forum. While ad forum ambulābam, vīdī many ____________. There was a large crowd moving in all directions. I was amazed at all of the buildings around the outside of the forum because they were so magna and decorated. quōque cōnspēxī several mercatōrēs. Among them, erant ____________, ____________, and ____________. I decided to head over to the ____________ because I wanted to buy a ____________.

I approached this mercātor et dīxī to him, “____________!”
“____________!” mihi ____________. “Can I help you?”
“____________.” I said. “I want to buy ____________. unum habēs?”
“Of course I do!” mihi inquit et rīdet. “sed est expensive. ____________ habēs?”

subito, a certain ____________ bumped into me. I turned to him and apologetically said, “ignosce mihi.” He tamen erat ____________ and scowled at me. “____________!” clāmāvit. Watch where you are going!” I was rather annoyed and so eum vituperāvī.

“nōlī mē vexāre!” dīxī to him. “You bumped into me, not the other way around.”

It looked like we were about to get into a big fight. mercātor tamen vōcāvit his ____________ to remove the ____________. They grabbed him by the arms and escorted him ē forō. I tandem was able to finish my shopping.

1. quid mercatorēs in forō agēbant?
2. quis in forō ambulant?
3. quid rhetorēs in forō agunt?
4. quī anulum invēnit?
5. qualis anulus erat?
6. cuī servus anulum dedit?
7. cuius anulus erat?
8. quantī est anulus?